The present invention relates to an analyzer system, and particularly to an analyzer system suitable for transferring a sample rack to a plurality of analyzer units through a transfer line, and analyzing and processing designated analysis items for a plurality of samples.
A multiple-sample analyzer system is known, in which a sample rack containing body fluid samples such as blood and urine is transferred to a plurality of analyzer units through a transfer line in order to inspect and analyze the body fluid samples.
As for the prior art, an automated analyzer system is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-271164. In the automated analyzer system, two or three kinds of analyzer units are arranged along a circulating transfer line composed of a belt conveyer. A transferred sample rack is identified with a bar code reader, and stopped in front of a designated analyzer unit to pipette a sample fluid into the analyzer unit. After that, the sample rack is transferred to the next analyzer unit to pipette the sample into the next analyzer unit, and finally the sample rack is returned to a stock yard.
Another analyzer system is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-25755. The analyzer system comprises a plurality of reaction units having different analysis functions arranged along a main transfer line, and a by-pass line for accepting a sample rack from the transfer line to a sampling position of the individual reaction unit to pipette the sample from the by-pass line to the reaction unit. In this analyzer system, a sample container containing a sample has a bar code label indicating the ID (identification) information, and a sample rack containing a plurality of sample containers also has a bar code label. The ID information of the sample on the sample rack transferred on the main transfer line is read out and a reaction unit corresponding to the sample is determined. In case that the designated reaction unit is occupied for sampling another sample, the sample rack is transferred back again to the upper stream of the main transfer line through the return transfer line. This cyclic operation is repeated until the designated reaction unit becomes empty.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-271164, the biochemical analysis of the sample by an analyzer unit is implicated, but there is no definite description on how to deal with the analysis item and the reagent to be used. In the analyzer system disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-25755, as the system is configured so that the individual analysis units may have their own distinctive functions, the individual analysis item is processed by its own specific analysis unit. Therefore, a sample having an analysis item requested by a large number of samples has to wait for completion of analyzing the preceding samples for a longer time than the samples with another analysis item requested by a small number of samples, and consequently, it takes a long time for those samples to obtain the analysis data.